Exactly
a month later on Mark’s and my fifth wedding anniversary, we hit the
beach again this time to the north instead of south. Before leaving the
house I actually got Julia to wear a dress! It involved receiving a
bribe of a Cookie Monster cookie
after she put it on and another in the car if she kept it on. (The
first time I tried cookies as a bribe she immediately wanted the dress
off as soon as she received the cookie so I’ve learned from that
mistake.)
First stop was Park Chow
in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset. James and Julia were excited to
(slowly) walk up the stairs to the heat-lamped covered balcony, creating
a line of traffic behind them. A woman sitting nearby with an interest
in twins was charmed by ours and gave us four free Oakland
Zoo passes
(score!).
Mommy walks with James and Julia in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset.
Waiting for a table at Park Chow
James puts on a Halloween mask. Oh wait, that’s his actual face.
James pulls Julia out of his hat.
“Seriously, Mom, don’t you have enough pictures already?”
Then
we snaked along the Marin County coast to Stinson Beach, and James and
Julia napped on the way just like I planned. It was a chillier beach and
some people were in long sleeves - you could definitely tell we were
north of San Francisco! The twins, particularly James, enjoyed viewing a
game of beach volleyball having just watched that on TV during the
Olympics. They liked playing in the sand, and James discovered the joys
of hiding his feet under it. The twins and I were particularly struck by
how cold the sand was in the shade on the walk back to the car.
We arrive at Stinson Beach.
Daddy gets comfortable.
Not
only did I get Julia in a dress I somehow managed to get her in
pigtails too, which got sloppier and more uneven throughout the day.
However, I dared not touch them for fear she’d remember they were there
and want me to take them out.
James sets up a shell game to con other toddlers.
Julia and James try to catch Daddy.
James suddenly wants a hug.
And then after the hug break more trying to catch Daddy.
Mommy’s going to get James.
“I’m going to get Julia!”
“Gotcha!”
Heading home
Mommy, James, and Julia stand in the cool sand.
Then for dinner we stayed on San Francisco’s west side again and ate at Mandalay,
a Burmese restaurant in the Inner Richmond, for the first time. With
James wearing his red hat and Elmo overalls, one of the patrons tells
him he looks like Super Mario. The twins loved the tea leaf salad and
broken samusa soup.
James and his other twin, Super Mario
James eats Mommy’s food at Mandalay.
The
Stinson Beach jaunt was a longer drive than expected and it resulted in
us arriving home 1 ½ hours later than they usually go to bed. Unlike
our return from Santa Cruz where a roused-from-sleep James had a major
meltdown upon arrival, this time they were still out when we carried
them in. It was the first time we’d ever brought them in when they were
overtired and they just wanted to be put in bed.
Asleep in the car holding Doggy and Bunny
In
July when the twins were two-and-a-half, Mark took the day off and we
drove to the Santa Cruz area for the day. First stop was Cafe Bittersweet
in Aptos for lunch. I gave James some of my cole slaw and the name
seemed to cutely confuse him: “It not hot. It cold slaw.” He was also
excited to eat some of our delectable banana chocolate bread pudding.
Outdoor lunch at Cafe Bittersweet
Happy chocolatey boy
For James and Julia’s first big trip to a beach, we went to Rio del Mar
in Aptos, parked for free right next to the beach (a godsend when
transporting toddlers), and got the twins dressed and ready in the
hatchback of the Prius (which has essentially become a mobile diaper
changing station).
Heading to the beach
It
was my first time at a non-San Diego area beach and with the sun
beating down it felt like home. As did the cold water. Speaking of
which, as soon as we arrived Mark and I led the twins to the water, but
the the tide going in and out scared them. They would look at the waves
and get upset and point as though to say “What kind of witchcraft is
this?” They were convinced that Mark was behind it and wailed, “Daddy,
stop it!”
I suggested playing in the sand and returned to our picnic blanket. James insisted at first on playing in the sand behind the blanket, as though the blanket was a wall that could protect him from the evil waves.
James Sad Face suspiciously watches the tide.
“We should be safe from the waves in this bunker.”
James
and Julia were upset at first when Mark waded in the water by himself,
but they liked what he returned with: pails and yogurt containers full
of water. The first time Julia misunderstood and tried to drink the
seawater! Soon they realized it was fun to pour out the water, and then
as soon as Mark would return they’d immediately dump the contents onto
the sand.
Daddy brings the twins cups of seawater.
They promptly pour it out and demand more.
“Yay! Daddy’s coming with more water!”
James
discovered he loves kicking sand. Too bad there were no weaklings
nearby to bully as well. I showed them shells and they picked out a few
to give Gaga for her upcoming birthday.
Daddy shows them how to make a wet sand mound and James immediately shows Daddy how to kick it.
James readies his kickin’ foot.
Julia looks at shells.
Before
we left I held James’s hand and Mark held Julia’s and they seemed
fairly relaxed as we walked to the shore. We carried the twins while the
waves hit our feet. James was quite stressed as the waves hit my legs
and, although calmer than before, he’s still not getting a foam finger
that says “Go Waves!” anytime soon.
Mommy holds James to let him see the water.
Watching the water isn’t nearly as scary as standing in it.
We
drove to Pacific Avenue, the main retail drag of Santa Cruz, for
dinner. James overheard me refer to it as an outdoor mall and hearing
the word “mall,” kept looking around for his favorite thing, escalators.
They ate corn dogs for the first time at Hoffman’s (the subject of a Food Network Restaurant Impossible special
several months before), and we arrived at home an hour past bedtime
with a James who did not take well to being awoken to get out of the
car.
